Sirius's Legacy
by Blacktipped Angelwings
Summary: What if The Potters had been watching another child that night? what if the child was Sirius's? How would Sirius's daughter fair if she spent most of her childhood as Voldemort's prisoner? Harry and Ashten must together stop Voldemort from killing them
1. Chapter 1

Ashten stepped onto platform 9-3/4 pushing a trolley with her trunk on it. All around her parents and children were saying their goodbyes to one another or searching for their friends. A few were already boarding the train looking for an empty compartment for themselves and their friends. Ashten sighed. The only people here who knew who she even was were the Malfoys- a horrible, cruel family.

She clambered onto the train quickly remembering that they would doubtless be at the station. They were the last people she wanted to run into. Of course not seeing any of the Malfoys was unlikely with her luck. As she started looking for a place to sit she heard the youngest Malfoy, Draco, speak. His high arrogant voice was recognizable anywhere.

Ashten paled and ducked into the nearest compartment. The closest one turned out to have two first year boys in it. One was a freckled faced ginger with blue eyes. The other boy, however, almost made Ashten pass out. He had messy jet black hair, green eyes, and a lightning bolt scar on his forehead. It was Harry Potter, the boy who lived. One of the only people to ever escape Lord Voldemort.

Ashten quickly covered her shock before either of the two boys had time to notice it. She did the polite thing and introduced herself nervously, "Er… Hi. I'm Ashten. Mind if I join you?"

Harry shook his head politely, "Of course. There's plenty of room. I'm Harry," he extended his hand.

Ashten shook it shyly as the redhead introduced himself, "I'm Ron." Ashten shook his hand too. Introductions made they began to chat about what Hogwarts would be like. Harry and Ashten knew next to nothing about the school because of their individual upbringings. Ron was more than happy to tell them what he knew about the school- he had heard about it from his older brothers.

Ashten felt a little sorry for Harry who looked completely overwhelmed by everything Ron was saying. Ashten herself was a little overwhelmed even though she, unlike Harry, had had a fair amount of contact with the wizarding world. Of course she had only had a few months of good experience with wizards. Before that wizards had meant a whole hell of a lot of pain and suffering.

The compartment door slid open while Ron started talking about the forbidden forest. It was, to Ashten's horror, Draco Malfoy. Malfoy was wearing his tell tale smirk with his oversized friends trailing behind him. When he saw Harry Malfoy smirk widened, that is, until he saw Ashten. When he saw Ashten the smirk was replaced with anger. Unfortunately the anger didn't last long and was soon replaced with a malicious smile.

"Hello Ashten Black," Draco said in a way that filled Ashten with forboding. "Why are you sitting with Harry Potter? Planning to finish what your father started? Get Potter killed like your father did his parents?"

Harry was shocked. Was he accusing this girl of planning to murder him? That was ridiculous… wasn't it? He glanced at Ashten who looked murderous (which was not at all reassuring). Ashton glared at Malfoy, "You know as well as I, Draco, that my father was set up. You also know that I hate voldemort" (everyone but Harry flinched) "more than anyone else on this planet. And you would do well to remember that I know things about your family that would certainly interest the ministry. Also why would I plot my own God-brother's death?"

Ron looked terrified, "Black… As in Sirius Black? The murderer?"

Ashten looked Ron in the eye, "He was falsely convicted. And even if you don't believe me on that I've never met him. He was arrested when I was a few weeks old."

Harry still looked mystified, "What are you all on about? My parents were murdered by Voldemort, weren't they?"

Ashten nodded halfheartedly, "He was the one that killed them but my father was accused of giving out their location to Voldemort" (more flinches) "and murdering thirteen people. My father was thought to be the Potters' secret keeper but it was really Peter Pettigrew. He framed Sirius and faked his death."

Malfoy looked nervous now and made the mistake of speaking aloud, "How did you know that? I wouldn't have thought my father would have…" he trailed off realizing what he had said.

Ron's face became angry, "You knew an innocent man was lying in a cell in Azkaban?"

Harry had followed as best he could considering he didn't know anything about any of this. He knew beyond a doubt who he trusted more in this… situation. "Get out," he said harshly to Malfoy.

Malfoy was stunned. No one ever spoke to him like that except Ashten and Ashten spoke like that because she had nothing left to lose. He turned on his heel and stalked out followed by his big friends.

Once he was gone Ron slammed the door shut and they sat in silence, reflecting upon what had been said. Finally Harry broke the silence, "Why was your father set up?"

Ashten sighed, "Our parents were best friends and your parents supposedly wanted Sirius to be their secret keeper. Sirius said it was too obvious and convinced your parents to use another of their best friends, Peter Petigrew. Well it turned out that Petigrew was a spy and he betrayed your parents. Since everyone thought Sirius was the Secret Keeper he wasn't hard to frame."

Harry nodded, "Alright. I believe you." He turned to Ron, "So what are the houses exactly?" they rest of the train ride was spent talking about anything to do with wizardry. Ashten smiled more than she had in her life on that train ride. They had been interrupted a couple of times by a group of kids looking for a toad named Trevor. One of the kids, Hermione, had managed to convince Ron and Harry that she has a stick in the mud. Ashten found that she instinctively liked the girl. She might be a bit too much of an Idealist and a bit of a know-it-all but beneath that she seemed quite nice. Ashten made a mental note to befriend the girl.

When they finally pulled up to the station Harry, Ron and Ashten stared in awe.


	2. Sorting and secrets

**This chapter is longer but I'm not sure how good it is. I hope to have Sirius in the next chapter but I also want to try to follow the books' plot line if I can.**

**I am not JK Rowlings. I am me, the amateur writer. **

Sorting and secrets

In front of them was a huge, elegant castle lit up like a firecracker. A very large man (about ten feet tall) was easily heard over the din of chatter from the students, "First years over here!" the man yelled. "First years!"

"Hagrid!" Harry said happily.

Ashten looked at Harry in mock suspicion, "I thought you didn't know anyone in the wizarding world?"

"I didn't till a few weeks ago," said harry still grinning. "Hagrid was the one who came and rescued me from the Dursleys and told me about Hogwarts. Come on!"

Ashten smiled and followed her new friends over to where Hagrid was. "Hi Hagrid," beamed Harry.

"Harry!" said Hagrid brightly. "The muggles didn't give you any more trouble, did they?"

"Nope!" Harry replied happily. "These are my new friends, Ashten and Ron. Met them on the train."

"Hello," Ron said nervously, cowed by the man's size. Ashten waved shyly.

Hagrid clapped his hands together excitedly. He raised his voice so everyone could hear him, "First years to the boats, four to each boat!" Harry, Ron, and Ashten climbed into one of the boats and the girl they had met on the train. Harry and Ron exchanged wary looks with one another as Ashten started asking Hermione how she thought they were going to be sorted.

"I bet it's some sort of personality test or something," Hermione guessed as the boats started moving. "Any idea what house you'll be in? A lot of the other students seemed to know where they were going."

"I dunno," Ashten shrugged. "My dad was a Gryffindor but the rest of his family was in Slytherin. I don't know about my mum."

"I'm muggle born so I'm not sure at all where I'm going to be placed. I just hope the people are nice."

"I'm sure you'll have some good friends in your house," Ashten reassured the brunette.

"Thanks. Have you read the text book for defense against the dark arts?"

"Some of it," Ashten admitted. "It sounds like a cool class but I'm looking forward to transfiguration. I want to become an animagi."

"An anamagi?" Harry asked. The word had peeked his interest.

"An anamagi is someone who can transform into an animal. It's really advanced magic but totally worth it I think."

"Have you ever used magic before?" Harry asked curiously. Ashten flinched thinking of the first time she had used accidental magic.

"A few times when my emotions were running really high," she said unhappily. "It didn't end well."

"Yeah, me too," said Harry. "Though it was normally when my cousin was trying to bully me. Got me in loads of trouble." All four of them laughed. They'd all had experience with accidental magic with varying results.

By the time they reached the castle they were all soaking wet from a small cloud burst over the lake. They filed into the castle quickly, trying to get out of the cold. A tall, severe looking woman stood in front of the doors that led to the Great Hall. She was tall and slender woman with square rimmed glasses. She had an angular, catlike face that was currently glaring at the overexcited students. "Silence," she said, barely raising her voice.

Slowly the first years fell silent under the stern woman's wrathful gaze. "You will all line up single file and enter the great hall quietly. From there you will be sorted into your houses. Once you are placed in a house you will take a seat at your house's table. Afterwards you will be escorted to your new dormitory. Follow me."

She led them into the beautiful hall. It was warm, both in temperature and color. You couldn't see the ceiling at all. Instead, if you happened to glance up at it, you would see the same sky that was just beyond the castle walls with thousands of candles floating through it. There were five tables, four of which were perpendicular to the fifth.

The first years all lined up in front of the fifth table nervously. Many of them were shooting anxious glances behind them to older siblings. Some were looking apprehensively at the teachers at the table in front of them.

The cat lady (as Ashten had decided to call her) stepped up to the teachers' table and Albus Dumbledore handed Cat Lady an old battered hat. She promptly placed it on a stool in front of Dumbledore. Cat Lady turned to the first years, "My name is Professor McGonagall. When I call your name you will step up here and put on the sorting hat. Once you are sorted please go directly to your table. Abbott, Hannah!"

The girl who Ashten assumed to be Hannah stepped forward, white as a sheet. She picked up the hat and sat on the stool. The moment she touched the hat to her head the hat shouted, "Hufflepuff!"

"Allen, Peter!"

"Slytherin!" roared the hat.

"Black, Ashten!"

With shaking hands Ashten picked up the hat and placed it on her head, trying to ignore the whispers from the older students. Unlike the last two the hat didn't call out a house immediately. The hat spoke quietly in her ear, causing her to jump a bit, "You aren't like the others here are you? No, you're quite special. Too pure of heart for Slytherin by far. Too outspoken for Hufflepuff and too brave for Ravenclaw. And yet something makes me think that you don't quite fit Gryffindor. What causes you to seek revenge child?" Ashten felt her heart leap as she thought back to the years of pain that represented her childhood. The hat said, "Ah. That's it." Loudly he yelled, "Gryffindor!

Ashten sighed in relief and set the hat down gently on the stool and hurried to the Gryffindor table. Many of the older students were shooting her wary glances, as though she was dangerous. She gave a small huff of annoyance. Why did it have to be her dad that was framed? If Ashten ever saw Peter Pettigrew she wasn't sure she would be able to let him live long enough to clear Sirius' name. The sorting continued as she waited for her friends names to be called, praying they were in Gryffindor. Hermione was the first to be called of her friends.

The sorting hat stayed on her head for about thirty seconds before, "Gryffindor!" Hermione seemed pleased at the sorting hats decision as she walked quickly over to where Ashten sat.

Ashten beamed at her, "looks like we're going to be roommates!"

Hermione smiled back at her as they waited for the rest of the first years to be sorted. When they got to Draco Malfoy the sorting had barely touched his head as it shouted, "Slytherin!" It was unsurprising to say the least. If Draco had been put in another house other than Slytherin Ashten would have taken back every nasty comment she had directed his way, though only because she was so sure that he was a Slytherin through and through.

Harry was called about ten people later. The hat sat on his head for just as long as it had for Ashten. She was almost positive that it was speaking to him as it had her. At long last the hat shouted, "Gryffindor!"

If the cheers had been loud for the other Gryffindors it nothing compared to what Harry got. The roar was deafening. Harry walked over happily to where Ashten and Hermione were sitting. Ashten saw many of the older kids frown at this and saw two of them walk over to where they were sitting. She turned to Harry and whispered quietly in his ear, "the two walking over to us, they're going to try to get one of us to move because they don't trust me."

Harry frowned, "That's not fair. Just ignore them if they try to get you to move."

The two older kids came over to them and spoke to Harry, completely ignoring Ashten. "Why don't you come sit with us? This isn't the safest spot for you to sit," said the shorter boy glancing at Ashten.

Harry glared at them, "She's not her father you know!"

They looked at him, surprised. They hadn't realized that he knew what her father had done. They were undeterred though, "She may not be her father but her entire family is made up of dark wizards. She's," he shot Ashten a venomous look, "the last of them."

Ashten was barely keeping her temper, "My father was framed! Not to mention I've never even met him. How dare you accuse me of being a dark wizard!"

The Gryffindor sneered, speaking quietly so as to not interrupt the sorting, "If you've never met him then how do you know he's innocent?"

Ashten lost her temper completely, but luckily when she lost her temper she became quieter instead of louder, "Several reasons. I met the man who framed him, I spent most of my life being a prisoner of some Death Eaters, and I was at the Potters that night because Sirius was helping a friend!"

"You have no proof."

"Maybe not, but it is the truth," Ashten said, rubbing her upper arm unconsciously. "Whether you believe it or not doesn't matter to me but don't try to make it so I have no friends!"

"Ronald Weasley!" McGonagall's voice cut through Ashten's anger.

"Gryffindor," The hat let out something that sounded quite like a yawn. After all there had already been five Weasleys in Gryffindor in this generation alone. It really wasn't a surprise to anyone. Everyone snickered at the hat's apparent boredom.

Dumbledore stood up, his eyes twinkling merrily, "I'm sure you are all starving. Therefore I will talk to you after the feast." This was greeted by cheers from all the tables. "Enjoy!"

Hundreds of dishes laden with food appeared on the tables causing many of the muggle born and Harry to jump in surprise. Ashten couldn't truly say she acted any better as she was staring ravenously at the food. Although she had been given access to the Blacks' vault at Gringott's, as the last remaining heir not in prison, she still hadn't had much time to get food. She had spent most of the last few months avoiding the Malfoys and other Death Eaters who seemed to be patrolling the streets.

Ashten spent most of dinner laughing with Harry and Ron as Hermione spoke to Ron's older brother Percy about classes. From the whispers around her she knew that by tomorrow everyone in the castle would know that she was the daughter of a convicted murderer. She sighed, pushing her mash potatoes around her plate. The rumors about her dad weren't even the worst of her worries.

Most on her mind was her coming transformation. Every twelve hours she was forced into her other form which made her vulnerable to just about anything. She didn't want to have to explain it to any of the other students or teachers but she knew that was impossible.

Finally the feast ended just as Ashten was beginning to have to fight the transformation. She hoped Dumbledore's speech was short or she wouldn't make it to the dorm before she transformed.

Dumbledore's speech was short and to the point. Basically he said the third floor was off limits along with the Forbidden Forest and to check the list of banned items on Filch, the caretaker's, door. That got a groan from several of the student, particularly Ron's twin brothers, Fred and George, who had introduced themselves as the school's biggest tricksters. After that they were dismissed to their dormitories.

Percy, who turned out to be a prefect (which basically meant he was in charge) led them up to a portrait of a very fat woman who appeared to be trying to break a champagne glass that she was holding with her voice.

Ron nudged Ashten, "Looks like the fat lady _does_ sing."

Ashten laughed, though she was only half listening at this point. Holding off the transformation was becoming increasingly painful and she knew she couldn't hold out much longer.

Percy tapped his foot impatiently until the fat lady turned to look at him. "Password?" the fat lady said irritably.

"Caput Draconis." The portrait swung open revealing the Gryffindor common room. Ashten sighed with relief and hurried in after Hermione.

"Girls dormitories are to the left and up the stairs," Percy called over the excited voices. "Boys to the right."

Ashten said goodnight to Harry and Ron quickly and headed up the stairs with Hermione. There were four beds in the dorm they chose and they were soon joined by Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil.

Ashten felt the pain building faster and she turned to the girls, "Can you all keep a secret? At least for a little while?"

The three girls nodded and Ashten sighed in relief. She closed her eyes and let her body transform. Instead of a girl about 5 feet tall they were now looking at a girl who was five _inches_ tall. Lavender and Parvati gasped, "How?"

Ashten shrugged, "I'm not sure. I've always been like this. I can spend up to twelve hours as a full sized person but then I have to spend the same amount of time like this. So really everyone will know in the morning but I wanted one normal day first."

Hermione was in shock since this was the strangest magic she had seen, this far. She did however ask one question in her shock, "How do your clothes shrink with you?"

Ashten laughed, though it was more like wind chimes than her regular laugh, "I believe that's accidental magic. Luckily it shrinks my wand and whatever else I'm using when I shrink. I really do need to learn a good shrinking spell though."

They just stared. Hermione rubbed her eyes, "Well this is all quite overwhelming. How about we go to sleep now?"

Ashten looked at her gratefully, "yeah. See you guys in the morning." They all hopped onto their beds and went to sleep.

**Comments appreciated : )**


	3. Meetings… and some explanations?

**I GIVE UP ON PAGE BREAKS! THEY ARE IMPOSSIBLE!**

_Meetings… and some explanations?_

The next day Ashten woke up at dawn as usual. She climbed down the side of her four poster bed using the sheets. The other three girls sharing a room with her were still asleep, much to her relief. She slipped out of the room down into the common room, jumping from stair to stair. She jogged over to the exit.

She had a meeting with Dumbledore and the rest of the staff to discuss her 'small problem' as Dumbledore had put it when he had given her the acceptance letter to Hogwarts and the key to the Blacks' vault two months ago. When she got to the statue of the eagle she realized she didn't know the password so she waited.

Unfortunately, the first teacher to appear was Professor Snape. She almost decided to just wait for the next professor. She steeled herself for the man's reaction, "Snape!" she said as loud as her currently tiny lungs could muster. "Down here."

Snape looked down at Ashten in surprise, "Lucious let you come to Hogwarts?"

"_Lucious_ and I haven't had any contact in a few months now. I have a meeting with Professor Dumbledore and he forgot to give me the password," she said, trying to keep her hatred of the man she was now standing in front of, out of her voice.

"Gingersnaps," Snape said. The eagle began to rise and Ashten hurried to jump onto the highest step and Snape stepped onto one of the other steps. When the Eagle finished rising, they found themselves standing in front of a plain, wooden door. Snape knocked on the door.

The door swung open revealing professor Dumbledore, "Ah good. I was hoping you would arrive first Severus. And Ashten, it's so good to see you again. Things going better since you gained access to your father's vault?"

"Yes sir," Ashten replied politely.

"Now I know you and Severus have had some… contact with each other in the past. Fortunately he is not on the Death Eaters' side."

"I know," Ashten admitted hesitantly. "It still doesn't excuse what he did, though I must say compared to some other wizards I guess Snape is decent enough." She watched in satisfaction as Snape blanched, no doubt thinking about who the other wizards were.

"Snape has informed me that you spent a great deal of time with Voldemort. While that is not the nature of this meeting I would like to discuss it before the others arrive."

"Oh, Tommy?" Ashten said nonchalantly. "Yeah, I spent the first eight years of my life with the bast- I mean… Er, not nice creature thing?"

Snape stared at her awestruck, "Tommy? And you're still alive?"

"Well he couldn't exactly kill me since he was using me as a tether to the physical world," Ashten snapped. "He made my life a living hell so why shouldn't I get to call him by a name he hates?"

"A tether?" asked Dumbledore keenly.

"When he tried to kill Harry the curse would have obliterated him but, unfortunately somehow the spell sent me with him. According to Tommy I have 'special regenerative powers' that he decided to use to regain his strength." Ashten looked at her feet guiltily, "He used my powers to start regaining his followers."

"Do you know where-" Dumbledore started. He was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Ah, that'll be the others. Come in."

The door opened and ten teachers filed into the room. Ashten, who didn't feel like being stepped on ran over to Dumbledore's desk. Using the desk drawers to climb she pulled herself onto the desktop. Dumbledore smiled at the agile girl and turned his attention to the teachers.

"You are all, I'm sure, wondering why you are here," Dumbledore began calmly.

Professor McGonagall frowned, "I'm guessing it has to do with the pixie on your desk?"

Ashten glared, "I am not a pixie, thank you very much!"

"This is Ashten Black," Dumbledore explained. "She has a very special condition that forces her to shrink every twelve hours or so. I wanted to have her tell us a bit about it so we would be able to teach her better."

The professors exchanged glances. "Sirius Black's little girl? Is that true?" asked Professor Sprout.

Ashten just sighed in exasperation, "Why is it that no one seems to know that Sirius even had a kid?"

Dumbledore smiled kindly at her, "He was trying to protect you from Voldemort. That's why he left you with the Potter's that night. He trusted Harry's parents to watch over you from the safety of their home."

Ashten's eyes widened, "You know that he's innocent?"

"Sirius and James told me before they switched to Peter Pettigrew," Dumbledore said tiredly. "Unfortunately when your father went to confront Pettigrew, he staged his death."

"Stupid rat that he is," Ashten said angrily.

"Excuse me professor," McGonagall broke in, "how are we to teach her?"

Ashten rolled her eyes, "All I need is a good shrinking spell. Then I should be able to do everything."

"Wands don't shrink though," McGonagall pointed out.

Ashten pulled out her wand, "Mine does."

"Does it work?" asked professor Flitwick.

"Tell me a spell to try," Ashten challenged.

McGonagall pointed to a match on Dumbledore's desk, "Transfigure that into a needle. Just say match to needle and concentrate on what you want to do. Don't be upset if it takes a few tries."

Ashten smiled, "Match to needle." The result was instant. The match was gone and in its place sat a needle. "I love transfiguration."

McGonagall was impressed, "You're certainly a natural at transfiguration. Your father was too."

Ashten jumped in surprise, "Sirius liked transfiguration?"

McGonagall nodded, "Along with Defense Against the Dark Arts." McGonagall sounded sad. She turned to the other teachers, "I believe it won't be hard to integrate her into our classes."

Snape was glaring at the little girl, "It will be in mine. How is she to measure her ingredients properly?"

"Shut up Severus," Ashten snapped. "I'll do my best, alright. It's not like I want to be in a sadistic asshole's class." To Ashten's disappointment he didn't flinch.

Dumbledore frowned, he looked at the 5" girl with despair. "That will be quite enough Miss Black! You will address your professors with more respect starting this minute." There was something Snape was definitely not telling him about his encounters with Ashten. He determined that he would have to ask Snape for the full details later.

The other teachers looked a little scandalized that a student, and a first year at that, would say such things about a teacher to their face. One or two who had had Sirius years ago chuckled softly. It was definitely something Sirius would have said.

"I think that concludes this meeting unless any of you have anything to add," Dumbledore said, his mind still trying to piece together what he was missing about Snape's relationship with Ashten. "Ashten, if you would go back to the Gryffindor common room the other students ought to be getting up right about now."

Ashten nodded, "Okay. Thanks Professor Dumbledore."

"Oh," Dumbledore said remembering something as she scrambled onto the ground, "a good shrinking spell is reducio. No shrinking other students please."

Ashten waved her hand in acknowledgement, "Thanks!" Professor McGonagall opened the door for Ashten and Ashten ran out, literally. Walking back to the common room would take forever.

Once Ashten was gone all hell broke loose in Dumbledore's (soundproof) office. The thing that seemed to be forefront in all the teachers' minds was Sirius Black.

"What do you mean Black is Innocent?"

"Peter Pettigrew?"

"The Potters switched secret keepers?"

"Is she really Black's daughter?"

Dumbledore sighed. The teachers' reaction wasn't exactly unexpected, "I'll start with the last one I believe I heard. Yes, she is Sirius's daughter. Now I'm not sure if I heard all of your questions but I'll answer the ones I think I heard. Sirius black thought it would be too predictable for him to be the Potter's secret keeper so at the last minute Peter Pettigrew became the secret keeper. It turned out he was the spy for Voldemort. Framing Sirius was all too easy since everyone thought him to be the Potter's secret keeper. Ashten was four weeks old the day Lily and James were murdered. From what I have heard Ashten was at the Potters' that night because Sirius had work to do that night to catch up from what he missed from taking care of Ashten after her mother died in childbirth."

"If she was at the Potters' though than why was she not rescued along with Harry Potter?" asked Trelawney.

"That would be because the day you interviewed to teach divination you gave a prophesy about the two children in that room. If I remember correctly you foretold that both children would be tied to Voldemort, which is why Sirius never told anyone he had a daughter. While Harry was foretold to take down Voldemort, Ashten was foretold to be his prisoner. He fed off of her life force to regain some of his strength from what my spy told me."

"She was his prisoner?" Madame Pomfrey asked horrorstruck.

"Indeed. I am not sure as to what happened during this time. I found her a few months ago on the streets, hiding from everyone. She was afraid 'they' would find her."

"They?" asked McGonagall.

Dumbledore sighed, "She wouldn't tell me."

Snape fought the instinct to duck his head in shame. He decided to play the cynic, "How do you she didn't join him?"

Dumbledore looked at him sharply and Snape shook his head almost imperceptively. Dumbledore didn't think the staff would be reassured by his answer, "I have reason to believe that the Cruciatus curse was used on her on a regular basis. Also if she had joined him why would she have been hiding?"

Snape flinched visibly as the other teachers expressed their outrage.

* * *

><p>Ashten arrived at the common room just as the first students came down the stairs. They didn't even notice the little pixie-like girl as she came through the portrait hole. She climbed the stairs trying to avoid being stepped on by the occasional half asleep kid. She had almost reached her room when Hermione came out.<p>

"Hermione!" Ashten yelled, getting the attention of the girl.

Hermione looked down to where Ashten was standing and picked her up carefully, "Hey Ashten. I guess I wasn't dreaming that you shrank."

Ashten gave her an irritated glare, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Can you take me to see Ron and Harry? I'm fairly sure I'll be trampled if I even attempt to get up those stairs."

Hermione laughed, "Yeah, alright. Has anyone else seen you yet?"

"With the exception of the teachers, no."

"And this isn't normal for wizards, right?" asked Hermione. Hermione wished she had grown up knowing about wizards. It would have made all this so much simpler.

Ashten could tell it was going to be a really long day, "It's not normal. As far as I know I'm the only one like this. I'm not even sure if I was born like this or if this is Tommy's fault."

Hermione carried her down the stairs and then back up the boys' stairs, "Tommy?"

Ashten looked away, "I really don't want to talk about him, alright?"

"Alright," Hermione knocked on the door to Ron and Harry's room. Hermione's knock was greeted by things crashing to the ground and the door being yanked open.

"Hello Hermione?" said Harry confused. He glanced at Hermione's hand curiously and his eyes grew round. "Ashten?"

Ashten found she couldn't be irritated with Harry, not knowing that Tommy (as she always referred to Voldemort) wanted to kill him. Instead she gave a sort of half smile, "My God, that's all I'm going to hear for the next four hours, isn't it?"

Ron walked over to them and stared in shock at Ashten, "Huh?"

"Very articulate," Ashten said dryly. "I was wondering if you guys wanted to join me for breakfast in the Great Hall?"

Harry seemed to recover first, "Uhh, yeah. That sounds great. Can we wake up the others?" he said pointing over his shoulder to the three still occupied beds.

Ashten laughed, "Sure. Wouldn't want them to be late on their first day, would we?"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione laughed too, thinking about how much that would suck. Ron was still giving her odd looks, "How long are you little for? And who jinxed you?"

"Four hours or so, I think," Ashten said thoughtfully. "And it's not a jinx, just something that happens to me a lot… like every twelve hours…" she trailed off sheepishly.

Ron nodded, not really understanding at all, but realizing that he wouldn't understand. They woke the other three boys and walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

* * *

><p>Far from Hogwarts two very different people were discussing Ashten. One of the two men had a gaunt, sunken face. He was pale and sickly looking, though you could tell that he had once been quite handsome. He had dark, dirty looking hair that stuck to his face.<p>

The other man was quite the opposite. He was a rather portly, short man. He was dressed in an expensive pinstriped suit with a clashing scarlet tie. His face was chubby and, while not carefree, a very full face.

"What do you want from me Fudge?" asked the sickly looking man angrily. "To accuse me of knew crimes I didn't commit?"

Fudge frowned at the man, "You did commit the crimes you were accused of. There are witnesses who can testify to that. No, I came here to tell you that your daughter is attending Hogwarts."

The sickly man glared at him, "I thought you were convinced that I was lying about her existence," he said scathingly.

Fudge glanced away, "Well Sirius, it turns out I was wrong. Dumbledore found her on the streets a few weeks ago and she was proven to be yours."

Sirius felt tears come to his eyes, "So she's okay? Voldemort didn't get her? She's been safe?"

Fudge glared at Sirius, "You-Know-Who is dead. He's not coming back!"

Sirius didn't care about Voldemort right at that moment. He only cared about his little girl, "Can I- can I see her? Please?"

"If she wants to see you she may, though I wouldn't want _my_ daughter to see me like this," Fudge said pompously.

"You don't have children," Sirius spat. "Even if you did you have know idea what it's like to not know whether or not she's alive or not. I need to see her."

"I shall send a request to Dumbledore," Fudge said shortly. The earliest she can come is Christmas holidays I'm afraid." Sirius knew that Fudge was thrilled that he wouldn't see his daughter for months. Unfortunately for Fudge it didn't matter when he saw Ash, so long as he did someday.

With that happy thought Sirius was tossed back into his cell. Of course happy thoughts don't last long in Askaban…


	4. The First Day

**A/N Special thanks to VampireGirl3381 for being so supportive. You are definitely a huge help in motivating me to keep writing.**

**On another note who loved the Harry Potter movie? It was pretty good for a book turned movie and surprisingly an action comedy. It's all over until Pottermore starts I guess…**

**The First Day**

Ashten was happier than she had been in her life, even with all the strange looks she was getting. She was safe, she had friends, and she hadn't seen Malfoy yet. All in all a great start to the day, Ashten thought.

Harry was asking Ron what all the hype about quidditch was, causing both Ron and Ashten to burst out laughing. Ashten gave him a look of mock reproach, "What's all the hype? You get to fly you silly boy! How could you not love it? You'll see. We'll take you to the Gryffindor's team practice."

Harry looked bemused, "Flying… not my thing I don't think."

Ashten laughed again, "Bet you'll reconsider that once you've tried it."

Ron smirked, "Come on Ashten… you shouldn't push him into it if he's too afraid to do it. It just wouldn't be right. Although…" he trailed off in mock thought, "it might be fun to see him fall off, Don't you agree Ash?"

Ashten raised her eyebrows at Ron, "Ash?" She realized that Ron probably couldn't see her expression and sighed, annoyed at her size as usual.

Ron's face went slightly pink, "Er… I thought it sounded like a cool nickname, I mean then you're Ash Black. If you don't want me to-"

"We could call you Ten," laughed Harry.

Ashten was trying not to laugh at Ron's flustered face, "No, no, it's cool. I've just never had a nickname before. Ash Black… Kinda corny but I like it. How about you Hermione?" Ashten tried to lure Hermione into the conversation.

Hermione was smirking suddenly, "Ash for a miniature Ashten. It's perfect."

Harry and Ron burst out laughing, surprised that the girl they had pegged as a teacher's pet made witty comments like that. Ashten just fixed the girl carrying her with a glare, "Really? I've known you guys for a day and already I'm getting short jokes?" Secretly Ashten was delighted, though she would never admit it. The only think she'd been teased with were the keys to her cell.

Thinking of that time made her smile, it's how she escaped the Malfoys after all. Why Lucius had ever let Draco come down to her cell, alone and with the keys, was a mystery to her. How stupid could he be? Thinking of the Malfoys made her think farther back, which left her with her time with Voldemort (or Tommy as Ashten called him in order to make him angry) (**AN- Tommy. As in Tom Riddle. As in Voldemort for those of you who hadn't already put that together)**. Ashten wondered whether she would ever tell her friends. All she knew was it wouldn't be anytime soon, after all she had only known them a day.

The Great Hall was still fairly empty when the got there. There were only about forty students in the hall. The vast majority seemed to be Hufflepuff of twenty while Slytherin only had five students at their table. Ron led them down to where his twin brothers were already sitting and sat down across from them. Harry and Hermione followed his lead and Hermione set Ashten on the table so she could see everyone.

Needless to say the twins were surprised at Ashten's shrunken size, although their reaction was a world away from everyone elses thus far. "Blimey!" yelled Fred. "That's so cool."

"What spell did you use?" asked Fred's twin George eagerly.

Ashten smiled sadly, not that anyone noticed. "No spell I don't think. Maybe a curse or some weird genetic twist, but not a regular spell."

Everyone frowned, "Curse?"

"All I know is that this has been happening ever since I can remember," Ashten sighed. In a brighter tone she asked, "What's for breakfast this morning?"

Fred and George grinned again, "Anything you want, you silly girl. Just tell your plate what you want, like this." Fred demonstrated by asking his plate for chocolate chip pancakes and sausages which promptly arrived on his plate.

Ashten laughed, "That's pretty cool."

There was a chorus of, "Yeah," from the first years who were quick to try it out.

Ron proceeded to order waffles with a razzletart jam. Hermione asked for scrambled eggs with onion and peppers. Harry looked a bit unsure as to what he should order but eventually decided on an ET bagel with cream cheese and some bacon. Ashten went with a buttered croissant that was honestly as big as her, causing everyone to laugh. Ashten couldn't help it, she laughed too.

"Reducio," Ashten pointed her wand at the croissant. The croissant didn't change. Ashten glared at the croissant as if it were its fault and tried again. This time to Ashten's great relief it shrank. Ashten bit into the now tiny croissant happily. It was nice not to be eating crumbs for once.

"So, Ash," Harry said curiously, "Do you eat less when you're small?"

Ashten hesitated, "Normally I would get full while small with just crumbs but when I got bigger I was always starving. I think since I'm shrinking the food and still getting the same amount of nutrients as I would from the full sized one that I'll be fine."

A bell rung a few minutes later and all the students who weren't already in the Great Hall began to trickle in. The students who ended up sitting near the group of Gryffindors were giving Ashten curious looks which, while unsurprising, was quite annoying. At the end of the meal all the plates disappeared and a folded piece of paper appeared in front of each of the students. There was a rush to open the letters, especially the first years.

Ashten walked over to her letter scowling at its size. She'd already tried shrinking it but to no avail. She guessed that all the letters had been spelled so no one could tamper with them. She unfolded it using both hands, revealing her new class schedule. Ashten's schedule was snatched up by Ron before she even had a chance to look at it. Ashten glared at him, "Hey! I didn't even get to see it yet! Give it back."

Ron was staring fixedly from his schedule to hers, "I didn't know Dumbledore taught. How come you've got his class? The rest of our schedules are the same."

"I don't know," Ashten snapped. "I still haven't seen my schedule."

Ron blushed, "Sorry." He set the schedule down in front of her. Ron was right of course, there was an abnormality in her schedule. In the evenings on Tuesdays and Thursdays, after dinner she had a class with Albus Dumbledore… called Riddles. Ashten sighed. Dumbledore wanted to know what she knew about Voldemort she supposed.

After conferring with each other they all realized that, with the exception of Ashten's extra class, they were in all the same classes. This led them to realize that all the Gryffindor first years must have the same classes as each other. The first class of the day was Charms, with Professor Flitwick. After charms came Herbology, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Transfiguration, and finally History of Magic. Since today was Tuesday Ashten had her extra class with Dumbledore, much to her dismay.

"Off to your classes," Dumbledore called to all the students who hurried to leave.

Percy Weasley, the Prefect, led the Gryffindor first years to their first lesson. It took about five minutes to reach Flitwick's class from the Great hall giving the Gryffindors time to talk before class started. Percy, of course, had run off to his first class after dropping off the first years.

Professor Flitwick himself was a small, short (not that Ashten had any right to be calling anyone short) old man with white hair and green robes. He was just able to see over his desk when he was standing up straight. The four first years chose two tables near, but not at, the front of the room. Harry and Ron were sitting at the table to Ashten's right while Hermione was at Ashten's table to her left.

To the young Gryffindors' surprise the Ravenclaw first years entered the room a little more than a minute after the Gryffindors had found their seats. The Ravenclaws quickly filled in the available seats.

Professor Flitwick along with the rest of the class kept sending Ashten confused looks, although Flitwick's glances were also concerned. She wondered what she had said in the meeting that had concerned him. She couldn't think of anything though.

The bell rang and Flitwick called the class to order, "Hello students. My name is _Professor_ Flitwick. It is not Flitwick, Shorty, Hobgoblin, or midget." All the students laughed, although a few students whispered to the people next to them, "Hobgoblin?"

Professor Flitwick ignored the quiet whispers, thinking that Quirrell should handle that question seeing as he was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He had his own class to teach, "As you are all aware this is an introduction to charms class. Today we will be making the feathers on your desk float using the levitation spell Wingardium Leviosa. Everyone repeat after me. Wingardium Leviosa."

"Wingardium Leviosa," the class repeated excitedly, looking forward to learning their first spell.

"Good," Flitwick said, pleased. "Now remember, swish and flick."

There was the sudden drone of people starting to attempt the spell. Ashten was having no luck at all, the feather hadn't even twitched! Hermione on the other hand got it on her second try. Ron seemed to feel like Ashten did, completely bemused. Harry's feather looked like it was going to float but it didn't, much to the famous child's annoyance.

As class went on most of the class started to do the spell correctly, although there was a… small mishap. Seamus Finnigan, one of Ron and Harry's roommates, made his feather explode by accident causing many of the people around him to scream. Seamus's face was comically covered in soot that Ashten couldn't even fathom where it had come from, after all it was only a feather and Seamus's face was full of the stuff.

Ashten and Ron _still_ hadn't managed to make their feathers float. About six others hadn't succeeded by the end of class, though Ron managed it right before the end of class. Ashten and the other six who hadn't managed the spell were told to practice and perform the spell at the beginning of the next class.

Ashten was disappointed. She hadn't even been able to complete her first class without screwing up. She was terrible at magic, that much was clear. Maybe this morning in Dumbledore's office had just been a fluke. Perhaps she wasn't going to be able to do even simple spells.

Harry scooped Ashten off the desk when the bell rang and carried her to Herbology. The first years from Gryffindor were led out of the castle and onto the grounds for the first time. To say that Ashten was awestruck would have been an understatement. She had never seen anywhere so beautiful in her life. The grounds were green and lush surrounding the lake they had sailed (without sails. **Sorry I'm a sailor so I have to make the distinction**) on the previous night. The lake itself had a dark, mysterious sort of serenity about it. Trees and flowers were artfully arranged throughout the grounds with the forbidden forest at its edge.

Ashten was unfortunately carried into the greenhouse before she had the chance to see the whole grounds. The greenhouse was filled with plants. The class was rather boring for Ashten, Ron, and Harry. All they did was take notes on the medical benefits of plants with names that escaped her. Hermione of course already knew all the answers while the others were just trying to take the notes without missing anything.

Soon enough they were on their way back up to the castle for Defense Against the Dark Arts with professor Quirrell. Ashten didn't like the man for some reason. There was just something… off about the man other than the fact that he seemed terrified of his own shadow and couldn't manage two words without stuttering. They took notes on counter jinxes until they thought their hands were going to fall off.

Next came lunch. They spent most of it discussing the classes and the teachers. "That Quirrell guy is weird, isn't he?" Ron said looking at the aforementioned professor.

"Yeah," Harry replied. "I met him in Diagon Alley when Hagrid took me to get my school stuff. Really weird."

Ashten frowned, "There's definitely something off about him but who knows, it could just be from a past trauma."

"Trauma?" Ron smirked. "Who says trauma?"

"Er…" Ashten looked slightly embarrassed, "Me?"

"Okay," Ron grinned. "Well you talk funny."

Ashten and Harry laughed while Hermione scowled, "That's not very nice."

Ashten just smiled at her, "Chill Hermione. Weird is not bad you know. I find it quite refreshing. Actually I don't think I've ever met anyone normal."

"Okay…" they all said a little lost. Hermione recovered first, "Come on you guys. We've still got to find our way transfiguration."

_Finally_ it was time for transfiguration, the class Ashten had been waiting for. Professor McGonagall didn't appear to be in the room when they got there to the Harry and Ron's surprise. Ashten smiled at their naivety as she looked at the cat on McGonagall's desk.

The cat had marks around its eyes that looked oddly like McGonagall's…

"Maybe she won't show up," Ron said to Harry. "She's quite scary, don't you think?"

Harry didn't have time to respond as McGonagall chose that moment to change from a cat into her normal self, "Mr. Weasley I presume?" McGonagall said. "It would be wise to be more careful where you say things about some one with powers unknown to you."

Ron gulped as the rest of the class laughed, his face going red.

"Alright class," McGonagall snapped stopping the class's laughter immediately, "you have a lot to learn in my class. Transfiguration is one of the hardest classes you will take at Hogwarts. It takes a focused mind and a lot of hard work. Today we will be transforming a match into a needle. Few of you will succeed today. Transfiguration is not something as simple as saying an incantation and waving your wand. You will have to work hard and practice during your free time. The first five people to complete the assignment will be excused from tonight's homework assignment."

All the students (with the exception of Neville) whispered excitedly at that. Ashten felt a little guilty about competing for no homework when she had already completed the task once. She shrugged to herself. She could use the break with the extra charm's homework she had to do.

The class listened to McGonagall explain to them how to do the spell and the quickly started to try it. Ashten managed on her first go again. Needless to say Hermione was more than a bit put out that Ashten got it so quickly. The class spent the next half hour or so trying to change their match into a needle.

Ashten spent this time preparing for her transformation back to a normal size. At around the time Hermione managed to change her match into a needle (she was the first person to manage it after Ashten) time was up for Ashten.

She transformed back to full size making a lot of people jump as she grew. They all stopped trying the spell to stare at Ashten. McGonagall was, thankfully, quick to get them back to work with a few choice words about extra homework.

Ashten was just relieved that she wouldn't be tiny for Snape's class. That would have been miserable considering he absolutely hated her. She wanted to be at full capacity for that class. No doubt Snape would take it upon himself to make her miserable… although for a Death Eater he was downright humane not that Ashten would ever admit that aloud.

At the end of class Ashten and Hermione were the only ones to successfully transfigure their matches and were exempt from the homework McGonagall gave to the rest of the class.

Fate definitely hated her, Ashten decided. Not only did she have to go to Snape's class but she also had to deal with the Slytherins at the same time. The foursome chose seats in the back of the classroom in the hopes of avoiding Snape's attention (except for Hermione who would have gladly grabbed a seat in the front of the class if Ashten hadn't dragged her to the back).

It was not to be however. The moment the doors slammed shut Snape began take attendance and all too soon he got to Black. He gave her a look of pure loathing and, to her surprise, he continued on down the list. Until he got to Potter.

"Looks like we have a celebrity class," Snape sneered. "Tell me Mr. Potter, what would you get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

"I don't know, sir," Harry replied.

"Looks like fame isn't everything. Perhaps Ms. Black knows the answer?" Snape smirked.

"No sir," Ashten said irritably. "It wasn't in the first year curriculum."

Hermione had her hand waving desperately in the air which Snape ignored. "I don't like your tone. Two points from Gryffindor."

Ashten glared at the man but shut up as Snape began to lecture on how potions didn't bother with magic. He said something about potions being an art at which point Ashten stopped listening. She knew the basics of potion making from living with Voldemort for so long as he tried different ways to come back to power. The potions he had forced her to make never came out, thank goodness.

All in all Snape was an ass all through class to Harry and Ashten. They listened to Snape lecture on the importance of following a potion recipe to the letter, and some of the effects that would happen if you didn't. It was a horrifying class for Harry and Ashten and they were dreading their next class with him.

When the bell rang they all but ran out of the dungeons in their desperation to get away from the potions master.

"Well all we have left is History of Magic," Ashten said in relief. "I hate Snape."

"Well he certainly hates you and Harry more than some one you just met should," Ron chuckled and then grew serious. "I wonder why he hates you both so much."

Harry shrugged, "Maybe he's just a git?"

"Nah," said Ron dismissively. "It's something more. It's kind of weird though that he hates both of you though. I mean Ashten's dad was said to have killed your parents so it can't just be some grudge for school."

Ashten sighed heavily, "He hates me an' Harry's dads. I don't know about my mum since no one knows who she is, but I know he didn't hate Lily. I'm not sure why since she was muggleborn and he hates muggleborns. He's a git like Harry said though."

"Well duh," Ron gave her a dubious look. "Everyone in the school knows that. Even us first years."

"Shut up Ron," Ashten snapped as they took their seats. After the initial shock of seeing that their teacher was a ghost they had to struggle to stay awake through his monotone monologue on Goblins. By the end of class only Hermione hadn't yawned at least once.

The two hours they had before dinner were spent doing their first assignments. Harry and Ron still didn't really like Hermione so they went over to a different part of the common room and procrastinated as Ashten and Hermione hammered out the homework. After finishing the written assignments Hermione tried to help Ashten get Wingardium Leviosa with little results. _Though now the feather fluttered_, Ashten thought irritably. Ashten Gave up before dinner and got ready for her class with Dumbledore right after dinner. They headed down to the Great Hall for dinner.

Ashten couldn't help but dread the coming hour with the headmaster…

**A/N Please review. The next chapter is called Curse Breaking. I'll try and update faster this time. I had a lot going on at home. Sirius will be in the next chapter. **


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